I posted before about these people.  I contacted the police and filed a police report.  The officer said she would call them also.  The I added fraud alert to all three credit agencies.  Tomorrow I am going to the bank to see if I can put something on my account so they don't mess with it.  Then I am calling the Social security office just to let them know that someone has my social security number.  After all that I will never put my personal information on the internet again.

I also got a call from this number.  They used the name Sean Miller saying that I was going to be arrested for a payday loan.  Does anyone know how to deal with this

I had the same call. When I told them that my lawyer was on the line with us he got mad and hung up.

I have all the same issues as the other complaints......Alvin Scott, Gabriel Kanoy...these are the names that I've received harrassing phone calls from. I also have msgs at wk everyday and on my cell phone. All kinds of cursing, threats of police picking me up from work, threats of loosing my job, etc. Also cursing at my coworkers and making sexual requests. Calling me a bi*** over and over again. Hanging up and calling back. These people have very strong accents. Rude!!!! If anyone has any info on how to get them to stop pls. put this out there. I am more upset about them harrassing my coworkers than anything. Send me an email pls. rerepaul@yahoo.com. The law office their using is named Goodwin, Proctor, & Associates.

Same as everybody else is reporting. They tried my cell phone 3 times morning, from the different numbers. Since I've been dealing with these idiots for months now, I no longer answer numbers I don't recognize. He called my work this afternoon, a coworker told him I no longer work for the company and hung up on. He immediately called back, insisting to speak w me. She, again, told him that I no longer work for the company and he began screaming at her...demanding to speak to a supervisor, telling her I would be fired, that I had a loan that I was refusing to pay, that he would have me arrested by the end of the day, that they were suing me, etc. I get a one week reprive from these idiots, after filing multiple reports w the FTC, Omaha FBI, local authorities, etc. Well, guess the reprive is over...*sigh*  One thing I did find hysterical, though, is that last time...I'd tell them I was recording the call (yep, theres's apps for that!!)...and he'd immediately hang up on me.

The call from 215-359-4053 claimed that I was soliciting funds illegally on the internet. Threatened me with arrest and court procedures. Scared me to death because the representative said that they would notify my employer of criminal activities on my part. This Grandmother has been at the same company for 25 years with no record of criminal behavior.I have to say that I am happy that this site has reports of these scam artists to alert people to be so careful of information provided on the Internet.
Thank you!

Diane--

This is a criminal extortion ring operating out of India. ABC News released an investigative report on it in June. The FTC has indicted one of its ringleaders for criminal fraud:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=1

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/08/bgm.shtm

In the meantime, you are going to have to do whatever is necessary to protect yourself. That includes putting fraud alerts on all three credit reports, letting them know you are aware they are operating a scam and are reporting them to the FTC and law enforcement.

im getting harasted by the people

I have been receiving threatening phone calls on my cell and my place of employment.  They are saying a warrant will be put out for my arrest if I don't pay back a loan (that I don't have).  They will send the sheriff to my place of employment. When the front desk tells them not to call they keep calling back.  Then he becomes abusive calling receptionist dirty names and indicating what he will do to them.  He has also called me dirty names when I answer.

I just got a call from this same guy while i was at work claiming i took out a payday loan and that i was being sued for 8000, i asked him if he could tell me when the original date was and he hung up on me.  Its a big scam.

Congratulations buttwad, you got someone who actually works in collections on the phone.  The guy answers hello, barely speaks english and threatened a lawsuit being filed on me tomorrow.  He was rude and nasty, and threatening me, I said listen, I work in collections and you are breaking numerous federal regualtions right now.  Does not give his name nor the company he works for, and when I called back the number on my caller id, he said hello, I told him about the message, he asks my name and then starts talking about a loan I never bothered to pay.  I told him I have only one loan right now my car loan and have no other loans, due to all my debt wiped out with the bankrutcy,  he said its a new loan after the bankruptcy, and I said its just closed a couple months ago.  I told him I will give him my case # and lawyer info and he hung up.  I tried calling back twice and he would pick up and hang up.  Called my lawyer, he took the gusy number and told me to google it, it was most likely a ghost collector they use intimidation and threats to try and get you to pay.  And if I do give any money that would take my bk protection off that acct if there is one and I would be responsible for the full balance.  He said he will call him and kick his a** for me!!

I got the same call yesterday and same mo that other post are showing. They claim I owe some money and going to come to my work to arrest me. They have changed companies many times along with phone numbers. but the last call was from 215 359-4052 and reverse all lookup showed XO Communication Service Inc Pa.

I am the same as everyone else I previously had a loan on line and they have my social security number so who knows the damage they could do.

I got a call from the same people this morning and looked the number up, it's a SCAM. I explained that I never recieved a payday loan into my account and after being harrased, and threatened with a warrant and loss of my job, I was asked if I could prove that I never recieved a loan. When I told them I could prove this, they hung up. I had a co-worker call with a fake name, and the ALSO told her she owed money for a payday loan. Don't pay these people! They had my entire social, my bank account, where I banked..everything! And when looking at my account, thirty dollars was taken out by some company that I've never heard of. Call your bank and let them know what's going on!!

I got a call from these people too! They said they were notifying me of a cash advance I supposively accepted a cash advance into my bank account in the amount of 300 dollars. And that I was going to have a warrant for my arrest and that I was to expect court papers and to have my legal call them. The scary thing is they knew my last 4 digits of my social security what city I lived in and who I banked with.... The only thing I acknowledged was my name. I decided to interrogate them I found out this person goes by the name Benjamin Gates. I told him to give me his web address so that I can look him up and got pissed and said he didn't appreciate me asking him for this and hung up. I called back asked for the same information and got gambleproctor.gov...... Not a valid address of course. He then said please await your court documents and have your legal person call us. I said no I am not going to do this and he hung up on me again. I confirmed that I didn't receive a deposit nor is there criminal charges against me. Total HooHaaa of a person..........

Same thing happened to me as described above. I hung up and he called back and scream profanity at me. Very disturbing.

The same person called me from this number and threatened me because they had my social security and address and also other personal information which it seem like was sold to them when I applied for a pay day loan. They told me the same as many of the other reports said that I would be arrested etc. I made a FTC complaint, however I wasn't phased by their threats. I was more worried about my social security number and private information being sold when I filled out a application on the site that Montel Williams represent and will be looking into legal actions against that site because they are obviously giving your information to any and everyone.

A person called from a voice changer claiming to be Alvin Scott. He left several messages but my son has my phone alleging that I was under State Investigation and not to think this was a joke that I better call back or the would subopena me and have a warrant issued for my arrest. I thought well I work for the state and if that was so they would have notified me and given me a chance to resign or retire.

They called me in a thick African accent claiming to be some bogus law firm I never heard of with a claim against my name and a court summons. I know that is crap because a real process server never calls you before they show up. They just show up banging on your door with a summons to appear in court. This fool was so full of crap, I couldn't believe it! So, I deleted the B.S. voicemail and blocked his number out of my phone.

I got an call to my job, talking about some fraudulent checks and purchases made online linking my email address, these people have my social security number & tried to get me to verify personal information, I could barely understand the guy who called because his accent was so thick, I never verified my info so he became upset, and disconnected the call. I don't know what is going on but I do know that this is not the first time I've gotten a call from these people, but because I never verify my personal information and the people who call wont provide me with valid information, it has to be a scam, he tried today to get me to make a payment over the phone with the checking account that was used to make the fake purchases, the only problem is that I am well into my thirties & have NEVER had a checking account. I just think its funny, my job wont fire me over something that cant be verified!!! I just think the desperation of some people is funny.

Received call requesting to talk to one of our employees regarding legal matter.

Read my post. This is a criminal organization operating out of India.

Received several calls from this company on cell and at work. Told me he was John miller from proctor law firm and had received a complaint on me and my Ssn.. Stated I would be arrested and my family n friends would be in danger. I have all of this on my voicemail. What is wrong with people?

Phantom Debt Collectors From India Harass Americans, Demand Money

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) , CINDY GALLI and MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk)
June 7, 2012

Hundreds of thousands of cash-strapped Americans have been targeted by abusive debt collectors operating out of overseas call centers suspected of links to organized crime in India, law enforcement officials told ABC News.

The calls are part of a massive scam, one that appears to target struggling Americans -- especially those who have gone online to apply for payday loans. Armed with personal information from those pilfered applications, the threatening callers, who claim to be debt collectors poised to initiate legal action, have managed to pry loose millions of dollars from their victims -- even when the victims never owed money in the first place.

"This is what we call a phantom debt collection scam," said Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. "It's a very pernicious and innovative new fraud."

Working through call centers in India, the commission estimates that the criminals have dialed at least 2.5 million calls, persuading already cash-strapped victims to send them more than $5 million. Some have reported receiving dozens of calls per hour. They are victims like Cindy Gervais, of New Orleans, who went online for a quick loan when her husband's car was hit by a driver who didn't have insurance.

Even though she paid the loan off, the so-called "phantom" debt collectors with Indian accents began calling to say she still owed money.

He more or less told me that if I didn't pay, they were going to have someone on my doorstep to arrest me," she told ABC News. "And that they were going to contact my place of business, and tell them what kind of person I am."

At first, she said she resisted. Then the calls became more frequent, and started to ring on her cell phone, and at the grocery distribution company where she had worked for 27 years.

"I was more or less was in panic mode because he told me there would be someone before noon at my place of business to arrest me and take me to jail," she said tearfully. "So I agreed to pay him."

After receiving scores of complaints, investigators with the FTC said they began tracking the calls, and following the payments. They alleged the payments led them to a California company run by an Indian-American named Kirit Patel, and that such scams would not be possible without American front men.

"I would say that all roads of this scam, or many of the roads of this scam, lead back to Mr. Patel," said the FTC's Leibowitz.

ABC News tracked Patel for weeks, from the suburbs of San Francisco to Austin, Texas.

Patel refused to talk. But his lawyer, Mark Ellis, said he believes it is far too early to pass judgment on his client. Ellis, a Sacramento-based attorney, told ABC News that Patel was hired for a nominal fee to set up an American shell company, and had no idea what the call centers in India were doing.

"I can tell you, he was as snookered by the people in India as anybody," Ellis said. "He's a 69-year-old man who is nearing his retirement who thought all he had to do was set up some corporations and everything was on the up and up. He's completely dismayed that he has become the lightning rod of this entire problem."

A close friend of Patel's also defended him in a brief interview at his home, saying Patel was not trying to defraud anyone -- he was just an unwitting, bit player in a larger scheme.

"If Mr. Patel was just a cog in the wheel he seems to have been a pretty big cog," Leibowitz said. "It is clear that Patel was integrally involved with this scam."

Leibowitz points to thousands of pages of financial and phone records gathered by the FTC and filed as part of a civil case brought against him in the U.S. District Court in Sacramento last month. When FTC lawyers sought to freeze his assets and prevent his business from continuing to operate, Patel responded by invoking his rights against self-incrimination. His lawyer told ABC News he has had to be careful in how he responds to the allegations in civil court "because there is a potential criminal action," but that Patel maintains the allegations against him are false.

Federal investigators said the phantom debt collection operation that allegedly benefitted from Patel's assistance was one of several that all trace back to the same small town in Western India called Ahmedabad. Callers use technology to make it appear that the calls originate inside the U.S. Victims provided ABC News with recordings of dozens of the calls, and many of the thickly accented callers appear to be reading off a script.

"Subpoenas have been readied, and Monday morning you're going to be picked up from your home," one caller says on a victim's voicemail. "And you have children. Don't worry about your children. We have a childcare department to take care of the children."

"You will be behind bars for six months," said another caller. "And once you go behind bars, you will lose your job. Once you are behind the bars, you won't get a single drop of water."

William Peerce Howard, a Tampa attorney who represents victims of harassment from debt collectors, said it takes an especially twisted criminal to use threats and coercion to pry money from someone who is already struggling financially

"These guys really are the most visible villains in America today," he said. "They make a living scaring people."

Mark Merola, of Florida, said he just panicked when the caller told him he might be arrested at the deli where he works in a Florida retirement community.

"I was nervous. I didn't want to embarrass myself, my family," he said. He used his debit card to pay the collector $576.

Afterwards, he says he realized "how stupid I was."

"It just happened so fast," he said. "I got scared."

Leibowitz said he hopes with more attention, future potential targets of the scam will recognize red flags before they turn over any money.

If callers say they are from the police, consumers should know that law enforcement officers do not collect debt for private parties. If the caller is speaking with a thick Indian accent, but calls themselves by a names such as Officer Mike Johnson, that should be a tip off. And if they're calling 40 times in two hours, that's another red flag. "Legitimate debt collectors, legitimate pay day lenders don't do those sorts of things," he said.

Merola said he would like to see anyone involved in the scam prosecuted aggressively.

"There's no place in society for these people," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/phantom-debt-co ... 16512428&page=2

This company has been calling my home for the past 2 weeks. I get to work have a message on my desk saying I had a phone call from an Alvin Scott. I called them the next day. Of top he had an attitude whn I began to ask questions. I was told I was going to jail,the company was taking the money I owed as a lost,he was going to keep calling my job,and send the sheriff office to my job and then if they couldn't get me there to my home and I said ok he really got mad and Hung up.   These people r scam artist....Dnt fall for it....

I received a phone call from these extremely rude and piss poor excuse for scam artists....i shouldn't even give them the title of artists because thats almost a compliment. They were very rude which definitely led me to believe that it was a fake law firm simply because law firms don't normally contact people via telephone but rather send mail. I reported them to the ftc as well as to the bensalem police department (i hope they read this--chuckle). IT IS TOTALLY A SCAM. Basically I sent them to hell because I don't let anyone try to scare me over the phone.  The callers name was Elvin or Sullivan Scott. I seriously doubt that was his name because he sounds like he was calling from some call center in the middle of India somewhere with a heavy accent that was thicker than government cheese.

Does anyone know who this is?

I just received a treatening phone call from Proctor & Associates 3 times this morning I hung up the 2nd time he called because he actually said to me you must be out of your freakin mind how rude I was a customer service representative for 40 years for the State of Massachusetts if I said that to anyone they would have fired my a------ He stated he was an attorney name was Gabriel Courtney his bar number was 8335 I am going to report him to the Feds and I think anyone who receives these calls should do the same he is a jerk he also said that he was going to have me arrested today so I said go right ahead and hung up on him the 3rd time.

chutiye bhosdyke

I got a call today from this number and the same name he gave John Miller and he left a message to my cell phone and he even calling my work . This is not the first time they call .This is really a scam and needs to stop.

Received a message from this number stating similar claims and to reply to the call or have my attorney respond to a John Miller.  The caller had a very heavy Indian accent.  I did not return call.